1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to media feed systems used in inkjet imaging devices such as inkjet printers or multifunction devices having printing capability and more particularly to a media feed system having a star wheel with adjustable bias.
2. Description of the Related Art
In inkjet imaging device media feed systems, it is now common practice to advance media by pinching the media between a driven media feed roll and one or more star wheels. In simplex printing, the media feed roll touches the non-printed back side of the media and the star wheels touch the printed front side. Star wheels minimize contact with wet ink by minimizing the points of contact with the media. This reduces smearing and other print defects.
In a typical media feed system, star wheels are supported by springs. The springs provide a bias directed toward the media feed rolls. This bias is not adjustable during operation and is not adjusted to optimize the media feed system in response to, for example, different media properties. Also, since the star wheels continuously ride on either media or on rolls, the star wheels may experience excessive wear over the life of the imaging device, especially if the roll is abrasive. Further, the star wheels may become contaminated with ink buildup if they have excessive contact with wet ink. Once contaminated, the star wheels may transfer ink to the media causing print defects.
It would be advantageous to have a media feed system that minimizes these and other shortcomings of typical star-wheel media feed systems.